Into the New Year
by spiffykay
Summary: Future SS. New York City, the Holiday season, and a famous actress make for an interesting start to the new year for Seth and Summer.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I think we all know that "The OC" is not mine.**

**A/N: I come up with stories/plot lines randomly. And it's set in the future. (Because, really, I don't write much of anything else.) So everything that happened in the show stands.**

**This isn't a multi-chapter story. More like a two or three-parter. We'll see. And who knows when I'll finish the next part – hopefully before I leave for my semester abroad because I'd hate to leave you all up in the air for four months. So I guess the next part will be up whenever my next random writing mood hits me.**

**Review, please. :)**

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Seth sat at the bar, chatting with a few of his old college buddies. They did this often – meeting up numerous times throughout the month in random bars in the city to just catch up. To exchange war stories about their budding careers or dish about the latest goings-on in the news world. It was refreshing and it was the one thing Seth had always wanted when he jet set off to New York City for law school at Columbia University six years prior.

College at the Rhode Island School of Design had been interesting but he realized well into his junior year it wasn't exactly what he wanted for a career. In fact, come the fall semester of senior year he still wasn't sure what he wanted out of his life so postponing the inevitable choice and instead applying to law schools to procrastinate his decision? Yeah, that worked out much better.

Being twenty-eight was fun. Seth loved every minute of it. (Even though he had only been twenty-eight for precisely 44 hours.) He was no longer in college or law school, instead working for a corporate firm in downtown Manhattan while getting decent money to afford half the rent on an apartment he was occupying in Brooklyn. He wasn't trying to find friends or impress girls – he was just living. As difficult as it was to finally settle back into a routine of the nine-to-five days he had long forgotten about since his high school years, it was the only hard transition he had discovered when school had ended and his adult life began.

He just loved his life. And that was simply all there was to it.

"Cohen," Ben Larkin, a fellow graduate of Columbia's law school and an entertainment lawyer for Ada Adleid, one of the most famous television actresses in America, spoke to Seth, "so how goes it downtown?"

Seth lifted his beer to his lips, taking a sip as he glanced quickly at the television mounted up in the bar searching for the time before turning towards Ben. "Good. Hard. I don't know."

"Still not what you expected?" Dan, another fellow Columbia graduate and civil rights lawyer in the Bronx, asked.

Seth nodded his head. "Yeah… not what I expected. It's just… well, I like it, but I'm not sure it's what I want for the rest of my life. But I'm satisfied with it for now so I'm not worrying about it."

"Just stay there for a few years and get some experience under your belt and then go do what you want," Ben replied. "That's what I'm doing. And speaking of which… Ada's been asking about you, Cohen. She's still into that whole corporate lawyer thing."

Seth laughed lightly as the other two men joined him knowingly. "I'm sure she is."

"She's not that bad looking…" Dan tried, waving his beer in his hand in the direction of Seth. "Might be worth a shot. Or just a night."

"Yeah, well, somehow I think Summer wouldn't approve of that," Seth laughed, glancing back up at the television checking the time for what felt like the billionth time that night.

"You don't think so?" Ben laughed sardonically. "You know, cause, I always thought Summer might be up for that three-way thing. She's always been that sassy type."

Seth laughed out loud from deep inside his chest. "I don't know… something to look into."

The three grown men laughed at their comments, settling back into their beers and the television in front of them. Seth had known for quite some time now that the A-list actress, Ada Adleid, had a thing for him. Ever since he first met her one of the first times he went to Ben's firm to meet Ben for lunch, she had always randomly shown up to outings that was supposed to be "just the guys." Claiming she always had a "lawyer emergency," only for the "emergency" to be cleaned up in a mere five minutes and to spend the next two hours chatting it up with the three of them.

That had started nearly two years ago. And it really didn't seem like it was letting up anytime soon.

Summer and he had been dating continually – and partly off and on – since his undergraduate years in Rhode Island. There was one big break they took that lasted a little over a year, but that was a difficult time for both of them when Summer had made the decision to study in Washington, DC her junior year while he was still up in Rhode Island. It wasn't a bad break-up – they had grown up way too much to have that kind of drama come flooding back into their lives – but it was hard nonetheless. Seth had tried to date and even came close to developing a relationship with a girl name Sarah before Summer had announced she was moving back up to Providence for her senior year. She hadn't asked Seth to stop dating other women but Seth had made the decision himself, hoping to have Summer back in his life. It only took a few months of realizing they couldn't just be friends without having their attraction towards each other interfering so a few weeks before Seth's twenty-second birthday they officially got back together and had been together since.

Summer hadn't reacted to Ada's own affection for Seth very well when she first found out. But Seth understood. Because if the tables were turned and some gorgeous NBA player had been hitting on her, he wouldn't have been too pleased either. A lot of arguments had stemmed because of Ada and finally Seth realized he had had enough of arguing with Summer about Ada and a year ago he proposed to her. And she said yes. And Seth really couldn't remember ever being that happy.

Since then, their arguments had died down immensely. Seth would sometimes joke with Summer saying he should have proposed to her earlier so that a lot of their arguments would have been avoided but she'd just roll her eyes and call him an ass.

He loved that about her.

Well, he actually loved everything about her which was the reason he decided to propose that they spend the rest of their lives together. But still. She was just too adorable when she was calling him an ass.

"Wasn't Summer supposed to be here, like," Dan glanced at his watch, "twenty minutes ago?"

"Yeah," Seth replied. "Not quite sure what happened to her. She probably got tied up at work."

Summer had been working diligently for the same organization since she graduated Brown University six years prior. She had initially wanted to work in California for an environmental non-profit – and had been offered a decent entry job position as well as a respectable starting pay – but when Seth had been accepted into Columbia University's graduate law program, she made the decision to move to New York City to be with Seth and respectfully declined her job offer in California. In turn, she ended up landing a dream job of hers – working within the city's government system to help adopt more friendly and efficient ways of preserving the environment in the city swarming with eight million inhabitants. She loved her job more than anything and the people she worked with turned out to be some of the most inspiring people she had ever met in her life, helping her accomplish her goals and make her job feel worthwhile. Summer worked overtime many nights due to her passion for her career and it was because of this that Seth had rarely seen her lately – especially since she began helping to construct the project of installing solar panels on top many of the Big Apple's finest buildings for the past year. With Seth working hard to put his foot in the corporate law door, and Summer helping to save the world one solar panel at a time, their relationship – and as a result, the planning of their future wedding – had been put on the backburner for some months now.

That wasn't saying they didn't want to get married or were testing their relationship to make sure it would work or anything of that sort. It simply meant they were too busy to plan the wedding of their dreams and wanted to wait until their lives became less hectic so they could invest their hearts and souls into planning the perfect wedding, and in turn, the perfect married life.

"Cohen! Benjamin! Daniel!"

Seth swerved in his seat, breaking his thoughts and turning towards the voice he had just heard yell for him. Ada bounded up in her black and white dress, moving her unnecessary sunglasses (because it was December and the sun had set two hours beforehand) up to her light brown flowing hair.

"Hey, Ada," Seth greeted, smiling. "What brings you here?"

"Yeah, Ada," Ben turned toward his client, "What _does_ bring you here?"

"I have an emergency, Benjamin. These paparazzi here," Ada spoke to Ben, waving her hand behind her to indicate the massive amounts of people standing outside the bar with their cameras in hand, waiting for Ada to exit, "have been following me all day and caught me drinking a can of Coke. I need you to make sure those pictures don't get leaked or else I'll lose my endorsement with Pepsi. Please Benjamin," Ada pleaded with her lawyer. "If you don't fix this it will _ruin_ me."

Seth snorted at this. Ada was always so dramatic – even in her everyday life. Sometimes he wondered why anyone would want to become an actor or actress and then he met Ada and realized that she really was destined to have a career as such. Ada simply wouldn't do well in anything but the entertainment industry and she was lucky enough that other people thought this too, turning her into an A-list actress.

Ada placed her hands on her waist, glancing at Seth. "What are you laughing at, Cohen?" She didn't say it with distaste but rather with sincere infatuation.

"Nothing. Just…" Seth glanced between Ben and Dan, wondering if he should he even ask the question that was running through all their minds, "how does drinking a can of Coke ruin your _entire_ career?"

"Oh, Seth!" Ada laughed as she lightly tugged on Ben's sleeve indicating that he needed to vacate his seat to go take care of Ada's "issues" and so she could sit down and talk with Seth. "You wouldn't get it but it is a _huge _deal to the people out there," she indicated again to the paparazzi standing outside, "and because of that I have to make sure nothing jeopardizes all that I work hard for."

"Jeopardizes," Dan nodded. "Nice word."

"Thanks," Ada smiled sincerely. "I'm trying to increase my everyday vocabulary. Shows the people out there," again her hand motioned towards the door, "that I'm not stupid and can stand on my own two feet without the help of anybody else."

Seth's eyes drifted to the door and he noticed a petite woman arguing with a newly arrived bouncer and tripping in her heels as a result of all the water dripping from her body and onto the floor. "Speaking of standing on your own two feet…" Seth trailed as he stood up walking towards the bouncer and the petite woman.

Ada and Dan both turned around to see what Seth was referring to and as soon as they saw, Dan leaned in, speaking to Ada. "How about the word fiancé? Would that word help increase your vocabulary too? It's a French word but I hear it speaks high volumes in the English language."

Ada scowled at Dan for a split second before following Seth.

"Summer!" Seth shouted as he walked closer to the door, making eye contact with her. He saw her shoulders heave in a sigh of relief when she pointed over to him, her lips moving as she tried explaining herself to the bouncer.

The bouncer turned around, taking notice of Seth, but then immediately taking notice of Ada, ignoring both Seth and Summer all together. "Ada Adleid," the bouncer greeted politely. "How is everything for you tonight?"

"Good," Ada replied warmly. "It's been a terrific evening so far, thank you very much."

"No problem, Miss Adleid," the bouncer replied. "I'm Nate, by the way."

"Nate," Ada reached out her hand to shake Nate's. "It's nice to meet you."

Summer stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, rolling her eyes continually and then finally sighed loudly. "Great. Nate, Ada. Ada, Nate. Introductions are done. Can you just move and let me through now? I'm already a half-hour late due to this two-hundred person entourage parking themselves outside this place."

Seth smirked at Summer, feeling all sorts of happiness flow through his veins at simply seeing her.

"I'm sorry, miss, but like I've told you before I have been instructed not let anyone else into the bar at this moment," Nate spoke calmly to Summer.

"Seth!" Summer shouted angrily, snapping Seth out of his trance. "A little help here!"

"Umm… yeah… she's with me," Seth told Nate. Nate simply looked at him oddly, trying to figure out who he was and then Seth just continued on knowing he wasn't going to figure out anything anytime soon. "And I'm a friend of Ada's."

Ada looked over to Seth, trying to plead with her eyes as she had tried many times before to just spend a little alone "talk" time with him but Seth was in no mood for it and by the glare etching across Summer's face, Summer wasn't in the mood for it either.

Ada sighed lightly – knowing that Seth wasn't going to give in to her wishes, and glanced back at Nate, resuming her smile. "Yeah, you can let her in."

Nate nodded and then apologized to Summer and Summer walked towards them. "Jesus, it's like getting into freaking Fort Knox around here."

"Nice to see you too, baby," Seth held out his arms for her to hug him but Summer just simply rolled her eyes.

"Ew," Summer scrunched up her face. "I thought I told you never to call me by pet names." Summer searched around the small room, in search of the bathrooms. "Any idea where the bathrooms are in this place? It's pouring out there and I accidentally left my umbrella at the apartment this morning."

"Clearly," Seth smirked.

"Don't be an ass," Summer pushed her hand against Seth's chest and before she could pull it away to go clean herself up, Seth grabbed a hold of it, pulling her in and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

Seth let his lips linger for a few moments before he heard someone clear their throat, and he tore his eyes away to see that Ada was still standing there, watching them.

Summer rolled her eyes again, pulling her hand out of Seth's grasp. "I'm going to try and clean up. Save me a seat?"

"Is that a question or an order?" Seth cheekily replied as Summer gave him a fake smile and the middle finger as she walked off.

"She's just so endearing," Ada began as soon as Summer was out of hearing range.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, letting his eyes follow Summer until she disappeared from his sight. "It's what I love about her."

"You could do so much better, Seth," Ada let her hand stroke his arm, snapping him into her focus. "You _deserve_ so much better."

Seth smiled, walking back towards the bar without replying to Ada. He had learned by this point that saying anything to refute her attempts at brainwashing him into breaking up with Summer would only further her excursions into why he should be with her instead. So cutting her off before she even had the chance to try to explain them again? Well, that just worked for him better.

"Hey guys," Dan nodded to both Seth and Ada as they approached the bar once again. "Everything all right with Summer?"

"Yeah, she's just in the bathroom cleaning herself up," Seth told him, motioning for the bartender to give him another beer.

"Yeah, Lindsey just called and told me she'd just see me when I got back to the apartment tonight because she doesn't want to go back out in this weather. You're lucky you've got a girl brave enough to go out in the rain," Dan joked, comparing Summer to his own fiancé of two years, Lindsey.

Ada snickered, offering a retort, "I don't think lucky is the word I'd use to describe Seth's relationship with Summer… And I don't think brave is the right word to describe Summer either."

"Jeez," Seth scrunched up his face, "big on the usage of certain words tonight, aren't you?"

Ada grinned up at him as she took a sip from her cosmopolitan. "Well, it's something I need to work on."

"Among other things," Dan muttered causing a stifled laugh from Seth and another glare from Ada.

Just as Ada was about to reply, Ben appeared again with an agitated look upon his face and his phone, PDA, and a big folder of scrambled papers hanging from his arms. "Ada," he breathed heavily, "everything should be taken care of now."

"Should be?" Ada's eyebrows rose.

"Are," Ben corrected himself. "_Are_ taken care of."

"Wonderful," Ada clapped her hands, reaching out to hug him. "You're the best, Benjamin!"

At this hug, a bunch of the papers fell out of their place in the folder and onto the floor. Ada stood back, apologizing as Seth and Dan leaned down to the floor to help Ben gather everything.

"Yeah," Ben muttered to his friends, "$250,000 later and no one will ever know that Miss Actress here loves Coke better than she does Pepsi." The other two chuckled at his statement, still gathering his papers. "I seriously don't know what I was thinking when I decided I wanted to become an entertainment lawyer."

"Better you than me," Dan replied.

"Ditto," Seth laughed, handing papers back to Ben.

"What're you guys doing?" a voice entered the mix, glancing down at the grown men kneeling on the ground.

Seth looked up and saw his beautiful fiancé standing with her hands on her hips, still clearly wet from being outside earlier but not soaking as she was before, staring down to the ground.

"Benjamin dropped some papers," Ada explained to Summer.

Ben groaned as he stood, knowing fully well that it was Ada that caused the papers to fall. Seth and Dan followed his movements.

"Hey, Summer," Ben enveloped Summer in a hug. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah, hey, Summer," Dan waved at her.

"Hi," Summer smiled, making a movement to stand next to Seth. "How are you guys? And Dan – where's Lindsey?"

"She hates the rain. She claims she's like the Wicked Witch of the West and will melt in this weather," Dan told her. "But I'm good."

"And I'm tired," Ben added. "And _so_ wishing my vacation would come sooner than a week from now."

Ada pushed Ben's shoulder teasingly. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"Have you _tried_ to work for yourself?" Ben asked Ada bewildered. "Coke, Pepsi – it's not a matter of life and death!"

Ada rolled her eyes, swinging herself casually back into her seat. "You guys don't know what my life consists of. It's hard work pleasing the world."

"I thought you were an actress. Not a world peace activist," Summer replied, expressionless. Ada looked at her in disgust before turning back to her drink. Seth let his arm fall loosely around Summer's waist, picking her a few inches off of the floor and setting her in his lap. Summer smiled at him, kissing his lips briefly as a token of gratitude.

"I'm sorry I was bitchy," Summer whispered to him.

"To me or to her?" Seth grinned, knowing fully well she had meant what she said to Ada. She didn't exactly have reason to like her, seeing as Ada still insisted on hitting on her fiancé every chance she got – even when Summer was present.

"Oh, shut up, Cohen," Summer nudged his chest, turning around in his lap towards the bar to order a drink of her own.

"So, Dan," Seth shouted a few seats down to Dan, still keeping his arms wrapped around Summer as he held his bottle of beer on the bar, "any luck finding Ben a date for your wedding?"

"Nope," Dan laughed. "And every girl Lindsey and I ask seems keen on the idea until we show them a picture of him."

"Oh, har-dee-har-har," Ben grumbled. "You two are just so fucking hilarious."

"I was just asking because it's kind of getting down to the wire," Seth continued. "Only less than a month left till Resurrection Day."

"Yeah," Dan laughed. "But if all else fails, he can just go with Ada. They basically live together as it is."

"For your information, Daniel," Ada spoke to Dan, "I already have someone lined up to take me to your wedding."

"And who is that?" Ben asked warily, already seeing different messes he'd have to clean up when things turned sour with Ada's next prey.

"Lyle Tourteum," Ada responded, and then turned towards Seth, eyeing him flirtatiously. "But if another offer came up I'd be willing to reconsider."

Summer's mouth stood agape at Ada's words. She really didn't have any sense of moral, did she? "Are you kidding me?"

Seth pulled Summer closer in his arms. "That's good to know. But I don't know if you're gonna get anyone better than Lyle Tourteum. He's a fantastic football player. I don't even watch football but I know he's right up there with the greats," Seth tried to pretend he knew what he was talking about.

"Cohen, he's a baseball player for the Yankees," Summer told him.

"Right!" Seth tried to cover his obvious mistake. "Gotta love the New England states! All them Yankees honoring our country the way our ancestors would want them to."

"The _New York_Yankees," Summer stressed.

"Oh," Seth mumbled. "Guess I should shut up now, huh?"

Summer laughed, leaning in closer to him. Sometimes he was just too cute for his own good. "Yeah, probably." Summer let her lips graze his softly, massaging hers against his.

Seth hadn't seen much of Summer lately. Their schedules had been nearly opposite for the past two weeks – when he was getting in, she was leaving for a meeting and when she was getting in, he was already asleep. He missed her. It was like he had an imaginary fiancé. But finally he was getting the chance to spend some quality time with her and his friends for a casual twenty-eighth birthday gathering. Not a party – just an excuse to gather all of his good friends in one room for the night.

Seth pulled away from his mini-make out session with Summer when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He groaned inwardly, causing a small smile to develop on Summer's swollen lips, and turned to see the intruder.

"Hey, sorry to break it up but I think I'm gonna head back to the apartment," Dan motioned animatedly with hands. "Haven't seen Lindsey in awhile."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Seth smirked at Summer.

"I knew you'd understand," Dan patted him on the back. "Happy birthday, buddy."

"Thanks, Dan. And have a good Christmas if I don't see you."

"Oh, yes, a great Christmas in Montana with Lindsey's family. Should be _swell_," Dan gave them both two thumbs up sardonically causing both Seth and Summer to laugh. "You guys have a good Christmas too."

"_Chrismukkah_," Seth corrected.

"Oh, whatever," Dan shooed his hand into mid-air, "Bye Cohen, Summer."

"Bye Dan," Summer waved, letting her other hand hang around Seth's shoulders. "Are you having a good party?"

"This classifies as a party?" Seth asked.

"Well… a belated birthday trip to the bar?" Summer replied.

Seth reached his lips up to hers. "So far, so good." Summer closed the distance and kissed him again. This time another voice interrupted them – and Summer was kind of getting sick of it. "Oh my _God_!"

"Sor_ry_," Ada haughtily replied to Summer's shout, speaking to Seth. "Cohen -"

"I would appreciate it if you didn't call him that," Summer interrupted.

"That's his name."

"His _last_ name," Summer glowered at her.

Ada threw the glower right back at Summer. "_You_ call him Cohen."

"That's because I'm his _fiancé_," Summer spit out bitingly at her.

"Whatever," Ada rolled her eyes. "No need to claim your territory, Summer."

Seth couldn't handle the fight he knew was coming as a result of anger rising in Summer's blood. Plus he knew how bad her rage blackouts were. In fact, if he were keeping track, she probably had already had three or four intense ones directed towards Ada before and he didn't really want to have another one on his birthday celebration – of sorts – night.

"So, umm," Seth cut in, "what was it you wanted, Ada?"

Ada broke eye contact with Summer and looked at Seth sweetly. "Benjamin and I are buying you four shots for your birthday."

"Why four?" Seth questioned.

"Because we know that's all you can handle, buddy," Ben leaned his head over the bar, looking down to Seth, laughing.

"Hey," Seth held up his hands in defense, "I can hold my liquor." Summer snorted at this remark as she drank her own clear liquid. "It's true! I'm not a lightweight anymore."

"Cohen…" Ben eyed him, "don't lie."

"I can!"

"Then prove it," Ada pushed a shot of Southern Comfort down to him.

Seth picked it up, throwing it back into his mouth, letting it burn the back of his throat. He slammed the glass back down on the bar, eyeing Ben, Ada, and Summer, trying to hold back a cough creeping up inside of his chest. "See?"

"All right…" Ada replied, turning towards the bartender. "I guess he'll have five."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own "The OC."**

**A/N: What…? What is this? I'm writing again?? This world is a crazy place, people. I know it. I've seen it. **

**You'll probably have to reread the first part of this because it's been so long and I do apologize for that. But I did promise that I would never **_**not**_** finish a story I posted on here and I don't break promises.**

**Read, enjoy, and review – because reviews are **_**awesome**_**.**

**--**

Seth woke up the next morning with a dizzy feeling and an unfamiliar sense of his surroundings. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a clear picture of the room but instead only getting a glimpse of Summer, sleeping soundly in the spot next to him in the strange bed. He took a few minutes of adjusting to the light and the soft pounding that was rushing through his head, while trying to remember how he ended up in this room. It only took a few more moments until he noticed the painting on the wall opposite of the bed, seeing that it was clearly an original Monet painting, figuring out that he was probably in Ada's apartment. (Because who else did he know that could afford an original Monet painting?)

Seth soon climbed out of bed, afraid to disturb Summer and stumbled out of the room and into the long hallway in search of some coffee. He finally reached what appeared to be the kitchen, also noticing Ada sitting at her table having a bowl of cereal.

"Oh," Ada looked up after hearing Seth wander into the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised when she found he was only dressed in boxers and socks, "hey, Seth. Good morning."

Seth merely smiled, holding up a hand to signal a wave, before making his way fully into the kitchen. He tried searching for some coffee but Ada had already beaten him to it, grasping a cup in one hand and handing it to him. "Thanks."

"No problem," she smiled back at him, letting her fingers graze his a moment longer than was necessary.

Seth cleared his throat, lifting the cup up to his lips. "So, umm, how did Summer and I end up here last night and not at our apartment?"

"You don't remember?" Ada settled back into her seat at the table.

Seth followed her motion, sitting across from her. "No – well, I remember bits actually."

"Summer fell asleep a few hours in and just slept in one of the booths while you, Ben, and I continued drinking for a few more hours. Ben ended up leaving and then you were gonna leave too but you didn't want to wake Summer – and I knew you nor Ben would be able to carry her to and from a taxi. So I just suggested you come stay at my place last night and my driver helped carry her in," Ada informed him.

Seth nodded his head, taking it all in. "So I didn't do anything stupid, did I?"

"What do you mean by stupid?" Ada gave him a flirtatious smirk.

Seth struggled not to let his eyes roll. Of course she would think he was talking about doing something of the sexual nature with her. Like she knew deep down in Seth's heart of hearts that he was madly in love with her and not Summer. Like she just couldn't fathom the idea of a normal, career-oriented guy choosing a normal, career-oriented woman like Summer over an A-list movie star. "I mean like screaming outside of the top of your limo or vomiting in public."

Ada smiled, regardless of Seth's answer. "Nope. Just the normal drunk."

"That's good to hear," Seth took another sip of his coffee. God, he thought, this coffee tasted way too dark for his liking. Or maybe that was because he was hung-over.

Silence ensued for a few moments longer before Ada broke it. "Do you mind going downstairs and grabbing me the newspaper and the _Wall Street Journal_?"

"_Wall Street Journal_?" Seth eyed her in surprise. "You actually read that?"

"I skim it every now and again. I like to know what I'm investing in sometimes."

"You know what you're investing in?"

"Benjamin mentions it from time to time. I just like to keep tabs on it. Even though, to tell you the truth, I don't know what it means half of the time," Ada giggled. "There's a robe and slippers right next to the door you can use. And the newspaper stand is right outside of the apartment building to the left. You won't miss it."

Seth always found it so unbelievable that Ada was able to ask someone politely to do something and then, without receiving an actual answer, pointing them in the direction of how to complete the task she asked of them.

It was baffling really.

He stood up from the table, walking towards the door finding the items Ada mentioned exactly as she told him they would be. He slipped on the robe, finally noticing his lack of clothing and slipped his feet into the beyond comfy slippers, making the trek outside and down the building.

--

Summer woke up in a way too soft and unbelievably comfy bed. She immediately opened her eyes, surveying her surroundings.

"Wha…" She began, as she sat up in the gigantic bed. She then looked down and noticed she was only in her underwear, bra, and socks, seeing her clothes – and what appeared to be Seth's – strewn across the floor of the unknown room.

It didn't take long for Summer to realize where she was. After all, who else would have that ridiculously, hideous Monet painting hanging on the opposite wall?

Summer got out of the bed, putting on her clothes from the previous night – ew – and also placing her fiancé's clothes neatly on the bed. At this, she immediately looked around the room again, searching for said fiancé. She checked out the adjoining bathroom and huge walk-in closet before realizing he wasn't anywhere in the vicinity.

So, as much as Summer was dreading the idea of walking out of the room and running into Ada Adleid in such disarray, she needed to find Seth and get this whole unfortunate morning over with and get back to their apartment in Brooklyn.

Summer tip-toed out of the room, hoping that maybe Ada was still asleep but as she walked past the living room, a voice rang out, startling Summer.

"Hi, Summer," Ada greeted Summer without lifting her head from her breakfast. Clearly the fact that Summer had spent the night at her apartment hadn't fazed her.

"Hi, Ada," Summer coldly replied, regaining her composure. "Where's Seth?"

Ada finally lifted her eyes to meet Summer's, rolling them before speaking to her. "He's getting my paper."

"Your what?" Summer's face scrunched up in confusion.

"My paper," Ada simply replied, appearing to drop her cold attitude towards Summer and stood up from the table. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," Summer answered, swallowing her pride to be cordial to the only person she hated. "Thank you."

"No problem. You both were pretty out of it," Ada laughed.

"I wasn't drunk," Summer told her, deadpanned. "I was tired."

"I didn't say you were drunk. I said you were out of it," Ada replied, eyeing Summer a moment. "Actually, I don't think I saw you drinking anything but water all night. Why weren't you drinking? It was your boyfriend's birthday."

Summer clenched her teeth. "Fiancé."

Ada rolled her eyes. "Whatever – why weren't you?"

"Didn't feel like it."

"Not even one drink?"

"Nope."

Ada paused, pondering her next question, horror quickly etching across her face. "Oh my God… You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Summer was flabbergasted that Ada would come up with such a drastic notion but tried to hide her shock. "What if I was?"

"You can't be!" Ada shrieked.

"Oh my God, Ada!" Summer shouted, reaching her hands up to her head in disbelief. "Make your feelings for my fiancé a little more obvious, won't you?!"

"You don't deserve him!"

"And somehow you do?" Summer yelled back. "You're not royalty! You memorize meaningless lines for a living! You're superficial and so full of yourself! It's disgusting!"

Ada planted her hands firmly on her hips, letting her eyes glaze over with hatred. "You _cannot_ say things like that about me in _my_ house!"

"It's not like I wanted to wake up here!" Summer screamed. "And the only reason I'm here is because you're sick and somehow thought that you'd get something from Seth if you allowed us to stay here last night!"

"How do you know I didn't?"

Summer snorted, still very angry. "You're unbelievable! Just because half of Hollywood slept with you doesn't mean Seth will!"

"You're such a bitch, Summer!"

"Whore!"

Seth heard yelling coming from the apartment as he trudged from the elevator down the hallway back to Ada's. He opened the door apprehensively ridding himself of the robe and slippers he used to go get Ada's paper. "Hello…?"

"Go find someone else's fiancé to cling onto!" Seth heard Summer yell as he hesitantly walked towards the sound of the loud voices.

"I don't _want_ anyone else!"

"Neither do I!" Summer yelled. "And he's mine! He's been mine for _ten years_!"

"That means it's time for a change, Summer!"

Seth finally stepped into the kitchen listening to them yell at each other, still grasping the newspaper in his hands. "Umm… hey guys."

Both Summer and Ada stopped their yelling immediately. Ada's face turned into a smile at the sight of Seth and his lack of clothing while Summer's turned into a frown for the exact same reason.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt? Or pants for that matter?!" Summer pointed at him, letting her shouting resume.

"See, Summer?" Ada folded her arms. "Maybe he thinks it's time for a change too. And he doesn't know how to tell you because he doesn't want to hurt you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Seth held up his hands. "I hate change. Change hates me. It's kind of a mutual hating thing me and change have going on."

"Seth," Ada called out to him, "it's okay. Summer knows you want a change."

"My _God_!" Summer shouted, walking towards Ada at a swift pace. "Are you psychotic?!"

Seth immediately stepped in, holding Summer's arm before Summer had the chance to swat Ada. "Summer, don't."

"I think you're the one who's psychotic, Summer." Ada crossed her arms over her chest. "Thinking you're gonna slap me and get away with it. I'll have security guards in here taking you away the second you lay a finger on me."

"Yeah," Seth spoke, holding Summer back, "we're just gonna go grab our stuff and get going." Seth began pushing Summer towards the bedroom but Ada grabbed onto Seth's arm, causing him to turn around in question.

"Don't go, Seth," Ada pleaded with him. "You don't have to be with Summer if you don't want to."

Before Summer even had the chance to reply in anger, Seth let out a frustrated groan, releasing Summer from his grip and stared intensely at Ada as he shouted. "Ada, I don't love you!" Ada stood back, shocked that Seth shouted at her – something he never had done before, unlike Summer – and listened as he continued. "I'm in love with Summer. I'm in love with everything about her. Her hair and the way it falls into her eyes when she sleeps. Her nose that looks like a cute little button. Her eyes that are so brown and deep and tense, that barely anyone can read, but I can. Her body the way it fits mine perfectly when I hold her. Her lips that always seem to taste of strawberries, even when she probably hasn't touched any actual strawberries in months. Her personality that shows immediate hostility to everyone she meets but melts away as she lets you into her life. Her passion for saving the environment, for doing something worthwhile with her life. Her mind that is always filled with crazy ridiculous ideas but for some reason, she never thinks they are ridiculous at all. Her rage blackouts – because no matter how bad they get, even if they're aimed at me, she always bounces back and tries to act as if they didn't happen at all. Her laugh. Oh God, I love her laugh," Seth smiled, almost forgetting who he was talking to and who else was in the room listening to him speak, "it's the most gorgeous laugh you'll ever hear. The way she calls me Cohen and not Seth, so I know that she loves me or that I've said or done something to make her smile. Oh, her smile… I could never go a day without seeing her smile. It's so innocent and adorable and if I couldn't see it ever again I think I'd die. In fact, if I could never see or hear Summer again, I'd die. There's a huge part of me that lives in her and if she goes away I don't know what I'd do. It'd be like I'm only half a person. And that sounds ridiculous and neurotic but I can't help it. I'm so completely and utterly in love with her that if she were ever to break up with me I'd for sure crawl up into a ball and die a slow and painful death. I've loved her since I was ten. I gave her my heart – my entire being – when I was sixteen. She's _everything_ to me and there's no chance that I would ever give her up. To me, she's the movie star, the rock star, the … the… the freaking Queen of the entire planet. And that's it. It's a done deal. I'm not breaking up with her and you and me are never going to get together. I'm sorry, Ada. I really am. But you need to understand that once and for all or I don't think I'm ever going to be able to see or talk you again."

Ada and Summer stood shocked – both for completely different reasons.

Seth cleared his throat, ignoring both looks from the two separate women standing in front of him. "Yeah… um… I'm gonna get my things…" Seth made a swift turn towards bedroom to collect his belongings.

Ada began to open her mouth to speak, but Summer held up her hand in effort to stop her, speaking herself. "Save it. It's done." And with that, Summer tried to follow her fiancé into the room but he came out as swiftly as he had gone in, holding all of his and Summer's belongings.

"I've got everything," Seth mumbled, still not making eye contact with either girl. "Um… so… bye." Seth quickly walked over to the door, opening it and almost shutting it before Summer stopped him, maneuvering her way out the door as well and shutting it herself.

Seth tried to ignore that Summer was next to him but she wasn't so keen on letting him do that. "Hey, hey… Cohen," Summer had to break out into a mini-jog to keep up with him, "slow down, will you?"

"I have to drop this stuff off at the apartment and then go," Seth answered, still without looking at her.

"Go where?" Summer questioned, then shouting, "God Seth! Slow down!"

Seth immediately stopped walking, looking down to the ground as Summer caught her breath and stood in front of him. "I don't know. For a walk or something. I just need to go."

"What for?" Summer breathed heavily. Seth didn't reply so Summer brought her hands up Seth's neck, bringing his head closer to hers as she caught his lips in a passionate kiss. Seth instantly reacted, letting their tongues tangle together. Summer slowly let her grip on Seth loose and pulled away, breathing heavily again, but this time for a completely different reason. "What you did back there," Summer told him, making sure they kept eye contact, "was _amazing_."

"It was embarrassing." Seth groaned. "Really, really embarrassing."

Summer shook her head defiantly. "It wasn't at all. It was sweet, Cohen."

Seth pushed himself out in front of Summer and began walking off again. "You weren't supposed to hear any of that. And I shouldn't have done it at all."

"Why not?" Summer ran to catch up with him.

"Cause I shouldn't have. It was a mistake," Seth stopped again, looking at Summer. "Can we just, like, not talk about it?"

Summer frowned at Seth. "Are you upset you said that stuff?"

"Yes," Seth replied without missing a beat.

Summer's eyes widened and her jaw hung down in shock as she gasped and then crossed her arms, walking off. "Well, that's great, Seth. Why don't you just go tell Ada you didn't mean anything you just said. I'm sure she'll be pleased."

Seth groaned, walking back up to his fiancée. "That's not what I meant and you know it. I just… I shouldn't have done that. Ben's gonna kill me because Ada's gonna freak out on him and blame him. You know that."

"I kind of don't care what freak out Ada has," Summer told him. "Ada needed some kind of validation that I wasn't just forcing you to stay with me."

"Validation?"

"Yes," Summer replied, turning to him. "Do you realize that's the first time you've ever stood up for us?" Off of Seth's look of confusion, she continued. "Ada's always saying these things about how I'm not good enough for you or that you deserve better and I'm always the one to freak out on her while you just try and change the subject. You never tell her that you're in love with me and don't want to break up with me, you just talk about something different with her to avoid discussing it."

"That's not true," Seth held a finger up to Summer. "I tell her I love you all the time."

"Yeah, but then after you say that and she inevitably goes into one of her rants about why we shouldn't be together you don't say anything. You just walk away. I've seen you do that, like, a _billion_ times."

"I just don't want her getting angry with me."

"Why not?"

"Because Ben will get angry with me."

Summer shook her head. "Oh, that is _so_ not why you don't want her getting angry at you."

"What?" Seth's face wore a perplexed look.

"She's famous, Seth. She's beautiful, she's rich, and she likes you. And you love the attention. That's why you don't want to make her angry. Because you like having some other woman being completely obsessed with you. You're like an attention whore when it comes to women."

"Hold up," Seth held up his hand. "Two minutes ago I was amazing and sweet and now I'm an attention whore? That's quite the mood change – even for you."

Summer swatted Seth's arm harder than she intended. "You are such an ass."

"Oh come on, Summer!" Seth groaned. "I'm trying, okay? What else do you want from me?"

Summer looked up at him with tears clouding her eyes. "I just want to be the only woman in your life. The only woman who vies for your attention – and the only one who gets it. I deserve that, Seth," Summer's voice cracked as Seth visibly winced at Summer's use of his first name, "And if you can't give me that and have to spend half your time with Ada Adleid… well, then, a marriage isn't going to work for us."

"Summer…"

Summer wiped away the tears, "You know, a walk does sound good right about now. I'll see you back at the apartment."

And with that, Summer walked off in the opposite direction, never once to turning around to see the saddened and distraught look upon Seth's face.

--

**A/N: So this was sucky and kind of weird but I'm just getting back into this writing thing. Cut me a little bit of slack, will ya? :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, I could probably pay for another trip around the world. Guess that's wishful thinking.**

**A/N: I'm thinking this story is only gonna be a few more chapters. Maybe two. And then I'm not sure what to do. I want to do some one-shots – or even a continuation of my trilogy series, though I'm not sure if I'm ready for the commitment of another multi-chaptered story. What are your thoughts? (Yes, I'm talking to you!)**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter. Read, enjoy, and review pretty please.**

**--**

Ever since Summer's walk off the morning after leaving Ada's apartment, relations between Seth and Summer had been a bit chilly. It had almost been Chrismukkah and both, without actually communicating it, had decided to just ignore the entire issue and throw themselves into the holiday festivities. Seth got all giddy about the arrival the 22nd celebration of Chrismukkah and Summer in turn shared his excitement. She had always loved the way Seth acted around this time of the year – regardless of how many times she told him to shut up about Jesus and Moses – and she just loved how he resorted back to his younger self. It was one of the many reasons she fell in love with him. And one of the many things that made Summer think he was going to be a great dad one day – teaching his child all the wonders of the holiday experience he had once created.

Originally Seth and Summer had planned on staying at their apartment in New York for Chrismukkah, but last minute – and the day after their argument outside Ada's apartment – they decided to fly out to Berkeley and stay with Seth's family. Seth claimed he still believed he had much to teach his little sister, Sophie, about the ways of Chrismukkah and Summer stated that she was dying to see Taylor, who also lived in the Berkeley area. So even though it was an avoidance tactic, it worked out wonderfully for both of them.

In Berkeley, Seth and Summer had been forced to avoid any arguments concerning their current lives back in New York and both had been fine with that. In fact, they both not only claimed to the Cohen family that life was terrific, but they also stated this to themselves. It was only when Seth spoke to Ryan and Summer to Taylor that pieces of their damaged relationship were brought to life.

Ryan had told Seth just to pretend everything was back to normal and that it soon would be. Taylor had told Summer that it had probably been too long since they had been together sexually. Neither Seth nor Summer completely agreed with their best friends' sentiments but didn't have the facts to disprove them otherwise. So when Seth and Summer flew back to New York two days before New Year's, Seth asked Summer out on a date. Summer was thrown completely off-guard – her fiancé asking her if he could take her out on a date? – but smiled coyly and nodded. Seth had returned the smile and nonchalantly reached for Summer's hand, lacing their fingers together. They stayed like that for the remainder of the flight and suddenly their past arguments about Ada Adleid drifted from their minds.

Their date hadn't been much, but it was enough for Summer to fall in love with Seth all over again. She had gotten home from work to discover that Seth had put on his tux that Summer had always said made him look sexy and had ordered her favorite food from her favorite restaurant in the city, "Frembrough." In addition, she found that he had also gone to the video store and rented her favorite movie, "Pride and Prejudice." He acted as a complete gentleman all night, even giving up his always available sarcasm, and catered to anything and everything Summer wanted. And she hadn't wanted much – just to spend time with Seth – so all-in-all it was one of the more successful dates they had had over the past few years.

Since the date had gone so smoothly, Seth thought all was well for New Year's Eve. They had already been invited – and RSVPed – to Ada's party the following night and although Seth knew that was the last place Summer would want to go to ring in the New Year, he thought with their newly stable status she would be able to handle an evening with Ada. So he went to work the day of New Year's Eve, planning all the different ways he could avoid an Ada/Summer confrontation.

Seth entered the apartment that night, excited to have the next few days off thanks to the New Year, and walked into the bedroom to find Summer dressed in a green gown with her hair curled and laying half upon her head. "Wow," Seth's jaw dropped. "You look gorgeous."

"Thanks," Summer half-heartedly smiled, bending down to reach for her shoes.

Seth returned the smile and walked over to the bed sitting onto it, taking off his jacket. "But you know we don't have to leave for another three hours, right?"

"Actually," Summer turned to give her attention to Seth, "I'm going to a different party."

"What?" Seth crinkled his eyebrows. "Since when?"

Summer walked over towards him. "One of my coworkers invited me to her party so I decided to go there instead."

"Oh," Seth undid his tie. "Well, give me fifteen minutes and I'll be ready."

Summer shook her head, earning another baffled look from Seth. "No, you go to Ada's party."

Seth sat silently for a moment and then shook his head defiantly in confusion. "Are you suggesting we don't spend New Year's Eve together? The second most holy of couple days – right behind Valentine's Day??"

"You want to hang out with your friends and I want to spend time with mine. Plus, there's no way I want to ring in the New Year with Ada."

"Forget Ada's party," Seth swiped his hand through the air, standing up from the bed. "I want to spend the night with you."

Summer tried to downplay the whole situation. "It's just another night, Seth."

"Another night? Summer, we haven't spent a New Year's apart…" Seth thought about it briefly, making a timeline in his head, "Ever!"

Summer scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Let's just forget the fact that we didn't even speak to each other for the first fifteen years of our lives and then the first New Year's we did you chose Anna over me." Seth opened his mouth to protest but Summer held up her hand to stop him. "I said forget that. But junior year in college? We didn't celebrate it together then."

Seth grunted. "That's because we were broken up and I was in Providence while you were in DC. That doesn't count. Besides, I kind of did spend it with you because I distinctly remember having a three hour conversation on the phone with you that night."

"You were drunk for half of it," Summer crossed her arms.

Seth pointed at her. "I still remember talking to you."

"Fine," Summer motioned to walk away. "Call me later then."

Seth jumped over to her, grabbing her arm to stop her. "What the fuck is going on?" Summer turned to him with her eyebrows wrinkled in question so Seth continued. "What are you so angry at me for that you don't want to spend New Year's together?"

"I'm not angry," Summer responded. "Just… I don't want to make tonight about Ada. And I know somehow it inevitably will if we're together."

"That's not true."

"Seth…"

"It's not!" Seth raised his voice. "We can just go to the party you were invited to and spend the night together. I'm not getting what the big deal is here."

"Because!" Summer shouted, walking back, further, into the bedroom. "Even if you came to the party with me, Ada would call. Or Ben would call because Ada would want him to call you. And then she'd freak out because you didn't go to her beloved RSVP-only party and find some way to ruin the night and really, Seth, I don't want to ring in another New Year's with Ada Adleid being the center of attention."

Seth grabbed his phone out of his pocket, dialing Ben's number, still keeping his gaze fully on Summer. "Hey Ben? Yeah, it's Seth. Hey. So I'm not coming tonight. Me and Summer are gonna go to her coworker's party… Yeah, I know… Listen, I just wanted to let you know because I won't be taking my phone with me either… Cause I don't need it… No, she's not gonna have hers… What would you have to get in contact with me for on New Year's Eve?... And that's exactly why I won't have my phone on me… Yes… Okay, thanks… Happy New Year to you too. Bye." Seth shut his phone, smiling over to Summer as he walked towards her. "So where's this fiesta of yours happening?"

Summer laughed at him lightly. "Cohen…"

"Ahh!" Seth wrapped his arms around her petite frame. "There's my adorable, beautiful, wonderful fiancée! I was starting to think she was kidnapped because there was this jealous woman I wasn't familiar with that looked a lot like her. She was kind of starting to creep me out."

"Jealous?" Summer looked up to Seth's face. "I was not jealous."

"Oh, oh…" Seth laughed, and then began talking in a high-pitched voice. "I don't want to share you with Ada Adleid. I don't want Ada being the center of attention. I don't want Ada ruining my New Year's. Ada, Ada, Ada."

"Maybe I was a little jealous," Summer told him innocently.

Seth nodded, leaning down to leave a kiss on her head. "You have nothing to be jealous about. I'm so completely and utterly in love with you." At this, he let his grip around her tighten as he rocked her back and forth in his arms, making random noises into her hair.

"Cohen!" Summer laughed into his chest, pushing him away and swatting him lightly in the process. "It took two hours to do all of this!"

"Two hours?!" Seth exclaimed. "Jesus, Sum! It's just New Year's!"

Summer grunted – because wasn't Seth just saying New Year's was, like, "second most holy of couple days"? – and let Seth's lips wander on her neck, regardless of how long it took her to get ready and where she had to be in fifteen minutes. Her fiancé finally – _finally_ – blew off Ada in favor for spending the entire night by her side. She should at least thank him in some way, right?

Plus, it wasn't like making out with Seth was such a horrible thing to do in the first place.

--

"This is _exactly_ what I was afraid of."

Seth looked to his right, examining his fiancée as she sat with her arms crossed, looking out the window of the limo, annoyed.

Seth sighed. "I didn't want tonight to go like this either, Sum," Seth tried to put a comforting hand on Summer's leg but she moved out of distance before he had the chance. "Listen, Summer, let's not do this all right? This isn't my fault and I tried to keep tonight about us. You know I did. Can you, just, like, not get angry again?"

"Again?" Summer sharply turned her head towards him. "Oh, no. I'm still angry from before. It didn't stop. It's just more heightened at the fact that we had to take her fucking limo there with remnants of her stench making me sick to my stomach."

"This is what I mean," Seth held a hand up to his forehead, closing his eyes. "Don't be like this."

"I'll be whatever I want, Seth," Summer gave him a cold stare then, after realizing he wasn't looking, she turned back to staring out the window. "I'll be as angry and upset as I want and you should just keep your mouth shut and let me be."

"Fine," Seth replied, unemotionally. "Whatever." He mimicked his fiancée's body position as he turned to look out the window, away from her.

It wasn't like he wanted to be here either, Seth told himself. He had tried pretty hard to make sure nothing would go wrong tonight and make Summer upset. How was he to know that Ben would track him down, stating there was a huge emergency and that he was sending Ada's limo to come pick him and Summer up?? Answer: he wasn't.

At first Seth had told Ben no, that he and Summer were staying at the party they were at for the night. But Ben, sighing dramatically, replied to Seth, "Look, you don't want to be here – I get that. But seriously, Cohen, you have got to get your ass here. And Summer's. I wouldn't have even attempted to find you if I – and I do mean, _I_ – didn't think it was one-hundred percent, absolutely, positively necessary that you two take care of this." After that, Seth tried to find out from Ben what was so important, but Ben refused to tell him and instead asked for the address of the party they were at so that he could send out the limo. Seth gave in and found Summer, telling her what Ben had just moments before told him. And of course, Summer's reaction was far from supportive. She ranted and raved about how Ada always got everything she ever wanted and Seth had to hold his tongue to make sure he wouldn't say anything about how Summer used to be exactly like that in high school. Eventually, Summer caved in and followed Seth out to the limo, staying angry and silent until her sudden need to speak a few minutes prior.

Seth sighed, trying to remember that Summer had every right to be angry, and tried, once again, to sympathize with her. "Summer," Seth tried, more smoothing. She didn't even attempt to acknowledge him. So he reached over, putting his hand on her leg. At first she squirmed a little under his touch but relaxed, turning his gaze toward him.

"Seth, I don't want to go there," Summer told him, sadly.

Seth nodded, "I know. But we gotta stay united okay? You and me against all the Ada's in the world – or at least at this party."

This earned a slight grin from Summer. "Can we just see whatever Ben wants and then go back to our apartment for the night and ring in the New Year there?"

"That sounds like the best idea I've heard all night," Seth told her, moving closer to her and wrapping his arms around her body, bringing her in to lay her head on her shoulders. "I love you, you know that?"

"Yeah…" Summer smiled, as they reached the building where Ada's party was being held, "Let's get this over with as fast as possible so I can bring you back to the apartment and take advantage of you."

"Ohh," Seth answered, laughing lightly as he watched Summer get out of the limo. "Kinky. I like it."

--

Seth and Summer made their way into the building and quickly saw Ben waving them down over a sea of people. They made their way toward him, walking hand in hand through the crowd.

"Hey Ben," Seth greeted his friend. "What's this oh-_so_-important something that we had to get here for."

Ben barely threw a glance at Seth before he launched over to Summer, grabbing her arm and pulling him behind her. "You are not gonna believe this…"

"Hey!" Summer shouted, looking behind her at Seth, confused, as Seth did the same.

"Hey, man," Seth tried to speak to Ben, "lay off a bit will you?"

Ben stopped for a second, just as they had entered into the crowded hall of people who were somebodys and somebodys who were sick of being nobodys. "Right, right," Ben spoke, almost to himself then turning his gaze back to Summer. "Ada really hates you."

"Thanks for that wealth of information," Summer rolled her eyes. "What's going on? Or can Seth and I just leave now?"

"Do you know an Andrew?" Ben ignored Summer's sarcasm, asking her in full seriousness.

"Umm…" Summer racked her brain. "I might. No one particular sticks out in my mind though."

"You sure?" Ben probed. "Because Ada said -"

And before Ben could say what Ada had said, a booming male voice called out turning all three heads toward the sound. "Summer?"

Summer looked to her left, and there coming towards her was the one Andrew she knew. The same one Andrew she never thought she would see again. "Andrew? What are you doing here?"

Andrew came up next to her, smiling happily, as Ada followed right behind him, also grinning happily. "Ada Adleid tracked me down this past week because she said she didn't want to see you miserable anymore."

"Miserable?" Summer shook her head, confused and taking it all in.

"Yes, Summer," Ada spoke up, "I told Andrew how much you've missed him since you broke up with him. And he said he still missed you so I thought New Year's Eve would be the perfect opportunity to get you two lovebirds back together."

"Who is this guy?" Seth – who had been silent up until now; unaware of what was really going on – asked, disgusted, turning to his fiancée. "Summer?"

Before Summer could answer, Andrew stepped up, offering a hand to Seth to shake. "I'm Andrew Huntington."

Ada made her way quickly over to Seth, rubbing her hand up and down Seth's arm for comfort. "This is Summer's old boyfriend from college, Cohen. Summer's first, _real_ love."

"I'm gonna be right over there if anyone needs me," Ben pointed in the opposite direction, walking slowly. He had learned a long time before to stay out of the drama that was Ada Adleid.

"Wha…?" Seth turned to Summer, ignoring Ben's choice to disappear. "What boyfriend from college?" He then turned to Andrew, pointing his finger to his chest. "_I'm_ Summer's boyfriend from college!"

"Seth…" Summer put her hand on Seth's other arm, forcing him to look at her. "Seth, we have to talk. Alone, please."

"What's there to talk about? Tell everyone the truth! Tell them I'm your boyfriend from college! That I'm your first – and _only_ – love!"

"You are my first love, Seth. And my last. But let's please go talk about this somewhere else."

"Summer," Andrew spoke up, catching the attention of both Seth and Summer, "What's going on? I thought you still loved me."

"She doesn't even know you! _I_ don't know you!" Seth shouted, turning to Ada. "What kind of sick joke is this, Ada?! Is this some actor you paid off? That's low, Ada, real low."

"He's not an actor, Seth," Ada told him coolly. "Is he, Summer?"

Summer tried to shield the tears rapidly falling down her face. Seth looked to his fiancée in concern, and confusion. "Summer…?"

"Seth," Summer choked out, "_please_. Let's go talk."

"You mean this is true?" Seth stared at Summer, flabbergasted. "You know him?"

"Cohen," Ada told him lightly, "she was _in love_ with him."

Seth turned back to Summer, whose tears were streaming down her face. Seth's eyes began to water as he bowed out of the conversation and walked swiftly in the direction of the door.

"Seth!" Summer shouted, beginning to run off towards her fiancé.

Ada grabbed a hold of her arm, halting Summer's chase after Seth. "Let him go, Summer. Besides," Ada eyed Andrew, "you have stuff to deal with right here."

Summer's eyes glazed over in anger. "You are such a bitch, Ada. And someday, somewhere down the line, all this karma is gonna come back on you. And you'll wish – you'll _pray_ – you could take back what you've done to me and Seth."

"I won't regret anything when Seth is _my_ fiancé," Ada told her coolly, shaking her head in confidence.

"Right," Summer wiped her face, pretending to play along with Ada, "and just what are you gonna tell your kids when they ask how you met? That you broke him and his first fiancé up – his high school sweetheart – because you always get what you want?"

"Yes," Ada nodded, unfazed, "that sounds good."

Summer scoffed. "You're so disgusting and I can't _wait_ until karma bites you in the ass." At this, Summer turned towards Andrew, changing her entire demeanor. "I'm sorry Ada made you come here."

"She didn't make me," Andrew told Summer. "I wanted to. I do miss you."

"Andrew, I haven't seen you in years. Seven years, actually," Summer replied. "And I'm engaged. And I am so in love with my fiancé. I have to go after him," Summer told him apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Andrew. I really am." Summer didn't even wait for Andrew's reaction, instead just leaving the building. She felt bad for leaving Andrew there, sure, but Seth was more important. Seth was _always_ more important.


End file.
